During Phase one of our conservation project, we learnt that the way we were trapping in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve was unsustainable. Using manual traps was an incredibly labor-intensive and expensive method of trapping pests. For our small tourism business, it just wasn’t a viable long-term solution, so we went back to the drawing board.
In 2015 we found the answer we were looking for…. Good nature rat trap and possum traps.
Good nature produce gas powered self-resetting traps based in Wellington, New Zealand. We began trialing the products, and the results were promising.
Photo: Packs filled with Good nature rat traps.
The Traps
These gas-powered traps are instant kill and self which means the dead animal falls away and the trap is instantly ready for the next one. There are two different traps that target two different pests – possum and rats.
A12 – Good nature possum trap
The Good nature A12 possum trap can kill 12 possums before the CO2 canister needs to be changes. The lure that is used to attract the possum is a cinnamon based paste. The Good nature A12 possum trap is secured to a tree, baited and powered with the gas canister. The possum climbs the tree and put their head inside the trap and pull down on the bait bite block triggering the trap. Once triggered the trap self-resets and is ready for the next possum.
A24 – Good nature rat trap
The A24 Good nature rat trap is slightly different. It can kill 24 rats as it uses less gas than the possum trap. This time the traps are usually fixed lower down on the trees and are baited with a chocolate lure. The trigger for the Good nature rat trap is also different, when the rat enters the trap it must push aside a small pin to get in. this triggers the trap.
These traps only need a bait refresh each month and gas canisters replace as they run out – that’s it. And the gas canister is good for 24 kills.
Photo: Canopy Tours guide, Cam, changing out a CO2 canister in an A12 Good nature possum trap.
In July 2015 the Department of Conservation approved these traps as being effective against rats and possums. So, we decided to substantially invest in this new technology and replaced all our manual traps with Good nature ones.
Clearing our trapping lines was now a breeze – we take a clipboard rather than a mask and gloves. It’s extremely rewarding and highly effective.
From an efficiency point of view, it takes two staff a total of five hours to rebait a 100ha area. Our previous methods took two days and the area was only half the size!
These traps are also really cool for use on urban and lifestyle properties to keep rodents down and help the country reverse our pest problem.
Photo: The new easy and efficiant way of checking our trapping lines with Good nature traps.
